16 APRIL 13, 2006
LESLIE ADAMS
seemed more about academic freedom and
conflicts of interest at the CoF than on post-
fire logging in the Siskiyous.
“These people have inserted themselves
into the editorial process at a journal, and that
is unacceptable,” said CoF emeritus professor
Robert Beschta, a forest hydrologist. “I was
dumbfounded when I found out what was
going on.”
“In general, we are a very professional and
civil group, but the way this has played out
has been very unprofessional,” said CoF asso-
ciate professor Beverly Law, the senior author
of Donato’s report. “The internal environment
has not been healthy, and it may need some
time to repair.”
On Feb. 24, Walden held a congressional
hearing in Medford to review the Donato
report. FERRA co-sponsor Rep. Brian Baird
(D-Wash.) was particularly aggressive, chal-
lenging Donato’s academic integrity as much
as his scientific methods. But Salwasser had
his own turn to sweat on April 7, when state
Sens. Charlie Ringo and Frank Shields held a
hearing in Salem to examine questions of aca-
demic freedom at CoF.
“The flap over the Dan Donato paper
highlights how close the college works with
the industry,” Ringo said. “In many ways, [the
college] seems designed to carry out the wish-
es of the industry in a way that I think is
unhealthy.”
Salwasser made a public apology for
allowing Sessions and his colleagues to send
the incendiary letter to Science. He said he’s
now concerned that the controversy over the
Donato paper could hurt the CoF’s reputation.
“Looking back, I had no idea this thing
was gonna blow up the way it did. I thought I
A Douglas fir seedling grows in the post-fire forest.
was just doing a little bit of coaching,”
Salwasser said. “The issue up until that point
was a matter of difference of scientific
method and interpretation, and all of a sudden
it became an issue of infringing on academ-
ic freedom. It should not have gotten to that.”
The tipping point
The national debate over post-disturbance
forest management is in volatile limbo, with
political weight in Sessions’ corner and scien-
tific momentum in Donato’s. In the short
term, the Battle of Biscuit may be decided by
the fate of FERRA. DeFazio recently pro-
posed an amendment that would restrict the
bill’s reach and require the Forest Service to
craft action plans under the regular NEPA
process before natural disturbances occur.
DeFazio expects FERRA to pass in the
House “like a hot knife through butter,” but
FSEEE Director Stahl thinks the Donato
report scandal has tarnished the bill’s chances.
“I have never seen a legislative campaign
shoot itself in the foot as often as the Walden
bill has done,” Stahl said. “By all rights, it
should have sailed through Congress by now,
but it’s in desperate waters. It’s because these
idiots tried to shoot the messenger, and every-
body said, ‘What do they have to hide?’ What
they have to hide is that forests can take care
of themselves. Forests don’t need managers.”
Meanwhile, the Forest Service has pro-
posed upcoming timber sales in the roadless
forests around the Siskiyou’s Klamath
Wilderness, marking the agency’s first
attempt to log in a federal roadless area. Gov.
Ted Kulongoski protested the move, asking
the agency to postpone sales until he can peti-
tion to permanently protect Oregon’s 1.9 bil-
lion roadless acres. Oregon has joined seven
other states in a lawsuit challenging the Bush
administration’s repeal of the Clinton-era
Roadless Rule, which protected roadless fed-
eral lands from logging.
In the longer term, the winning perspec-
tive on post-fire logging may emerge in the
pages of journals such as Science. If history is
any example, paradigm shifts begin with sci-
entists and scholars, then trickle down
through their students. Then the tide of public
understanding changes, and that shift is
reflected in the halls of Congress.
The stakes on FERRA are higher than
Biscuit — hotter, faster, bigger. The stakes are
no less than all of America’s old and roadless
federal forests, which will likely be hit with
more and bigger fires, floods, storms, ava-
lanches, mudslides, droughts and infestations
as global warming reshuffles our climatic
deck.
It’s open season on America’s old and
roadless forests. And everybody wants a
piece.
ew
The Oxygen Collective, a group opposing the post-
Biscuit Fire logging plan, will offer a free multi-media
presentation reviewing the ongoing Biscuit saga at 7 pm
on April 17 at 100 Willamette Hall on the UO campus.